MEXICO – Selectmen on Tuesday tabled discussion of their letter of support to the state redistricting committee regarding Jay remaining in Senate District 14.
The move came after Town Manager John Madigan said he received a letter from Jay Town Manager Ruth Cushman explaining that Jay initially made the request to switch districts.
“Right after our last meeting, Jay must’ve read the paper about our support of them remaining in our district, because their town manager was pretty upset,” Madigan said. Cushman said Jay officials were the ones who initiated the request to switch districts so Jay would be in one with other Franklin County towns. “That certainly wasn’t brought up during our last meeting,” he said.
During the selectmen’s meeting on March 12, Jim McHugh of the Oxford County Democratic Office in Mexico asked selectmen if they would agree to draft a letter to the state redistricting committee explaining why they believe Jay should remain in Senate District 14.
“Right now, Jay is a part of our district, but we’re getting proposals to have Jay removed from the district,” McHugh explained. “We’d like to keep Jay within the district, because we feel that there’s a commonality between our communities and the community of Jay, between paper-making, and the power plants and the gas line. We have a lot more in common with them than with southern Oxford County.”
Jay is the only town in Senate District 14 that is not in Oxford County.
Madigan said that in her letter, Cushman offered to come before the Board of Selectmen to discuss the matter before Mexico sent the letter to the state redistricting committee.
Selectman Reggie Arsenault suggested that the board table discussion on the letter until the next meeting so they can hear from Cushman and Sen. John Patrick, D-Rumford, who represents District 14.
“I want to get the true facts before we do anything,” Arsenault said. “I want to know if this is all a political ploy or not. I just think it’s odd that they want to jump the gun and switch districts.”
Selectman Byron Ouellette asked, “If Jay wants to move, who are we to tell them they can’t?”
In other business, the board announced it has scheduled budget discussions from 6 to 8 p.m. March 27 and April 4 in the Calvin P. Lyons room at the Mexico Town Hall. Chairman Richie Philbrick said Arsenault will chair the April 4 meeting since he will be recovering from back surgery then.
The board also unanimously voted to renew the liquor license for the Far East Restaurant.
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- Mexico Town Manager John Madigan, left, discusses paving estimates for Backkingdom Road with Selectman Richie Philbrick, right, at Tuesday night’s selectmen’s meeting.
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